Adeosun to address UN conference on tax, revenue leakages

Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance, will be speaking at the Platform for Collaboration on Tax Conference at the UN headquarters in New York.

The conference is organised by the US, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

The conference, taking place on Thursday, is themed ‘Taxation and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)’.

Pascal Saint-Amans, director of Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, OECD, who signed the invitation letter, said Adeosun would also be on a panel to discuss ‘Revenue Leakages: Illicit Financial Flows’.

Saint-Amans said tackling illicit financial flows is a priority for most countries and that panelists would address the impact of the Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs), particularly those caused by tax evasion and corruption on sustainable development.

“The panel of discussants will discuss measures, both at the national and international level, which may help to reduce IIFs and identify opportunities to increase cooperation among range of actors tackling IFFs,” Saint-Amans said.

“The measures should also cover policies and actions that may address the underlying behaviours that give raise to IFFs, as well as the challenges limiting progress and taking into consideration fragile settings.”

According to a statement by Oluyinka Akintunde, the finance minister’s spokesman, she will also have a private meeting with Monica Bhatia, head of OECD Global Forum on Exchange of Information, on the sidelines of the conference.

The meeting will focus on Nigeria’s efforts for developing international networks and collaboration with other countries to secure taxpayer information.

In recent times, the ministry of finance and Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) have tried to increase revenue made from taxes by encouraging tax compliance.